Waking up
by Latias 24
Summary: 'All this time, she was a bubbling anger deep beneath the Abyss. There had always been three Alice, and for a good reason. The real one had started it all.' -Canon compliant till chapter 73-ish, gradual AU.-
1. The dreaming

**Warning:** This story is based heavily on a theory of mine. It is canon compliant up to chapter 73-ish, take it as you will. Heavily contains Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and what Alice found there references. List of hints taken from the two books and other media are included at the end of the story, including a summary of the theory. Ada's main character. Ignoring Pandora's anime, following manga, and there is mentioned of minor OC charries.

And have fun. XD

* * *

Ada was eight years old when she saw that girl, the child that change her world.

She had beautiful golden hair, just like Ada's, but the girl's hair is much more wavy and has an ethereal glow to it. That girl turned and faced Ada, and the Vessalius could see that the other girl had brilliant blue eyes, smart and thoughtful.

_"Ada Vessalius,"_ the girl offered Ada a brilliant smile, _"Follow me."_ She turned on her heels and ran deeper into the rose garden they were in.

As if hypnotized, Ada followed. The sound of her shoes gradually faded away to nothing as the ground became more moist, the further they ran from the rose garden, into the woods surrounding the Vessalius mansion.

The impromptu chase soon ended, when Ada and the other girl came upon a small clearing. In the middle of it lay a large Deer, sleeping peacefully.

_"That's Fawn,"_ the other girl whispered, _"He dedicates his life to you, Ada."_

Awestruck, the eight year old reached out, gently touching the nose of the giant Deer. The Chain opened his eyes, and Ada sucked in a breathe at those beautiful, hazel eyes. They look so soft, so confused, yet, resigned.

"His life?" Ada echoed, "Like Gilbert?"

The other girl chuckled at the comparison. _"In a way,"_ the blue eyed girl laughed. Then, she gasped, as if feeling something painful. _"I need to go."_

Ada nodded absentmindedly, before realizing what the other girl really said. "Why?" The Vessalius blinked, protesting, "You haven't told me anything! And what about Fawn?"

The large Deer blinked again, as if in reply to her referring to his name. He stared at the spot where the other girl stood, beside Ada, but there was a glassy look in his eyes. It's as if he couldn't see anything.

_"Fawn will guide you, no worries,"_ the other girl's body began fading, becoming mist-like. _"Worry not, Ada. I'll be back, in your dreams."_

And she was gone.

* * *

Fawn was a very unique Chain. He didn't need a contract to stay in her world, he told her. He said it was because of her presence, because she was special, but Ada couldn't figure out why.

"You'll know one day," he stated.

Fawn accompanies her when she's lonely, when her brother and Gilbert were out and playing their games that didn't suit her. Instead, on those days, the large Deer Chain would tell her stories, stories of a magical land with wonderful abilities.

"And then Alice was crowned Queen," Fawn's voice was smooth and mesmerizing. "Thus, she became the Queen of Wonderland."

"You were a Wonderlander!" Ada squealed, feeling like she had solved a big puzzle, "How was that place like, Fawn? Did you like it? Did you like Queen Alice?"

Fawn's hazel eyes seems to soften, and he gave a breathy sigh. "I was a Wonderlander, yes," he nodded, "And Wonderland was a dark and dreadful place, once, when we were ruled by the Queen of Hearts. But Queen Alice,..." a fond smile carved itself on his face, and he look thoughtful, as if trying to think of the best way to phrase his words.

"Queen Alice was like the sun," Fawn murmured finally, "She overthrew the Queen of Hearts, and became Queen of Wonderland. Her rule was glorious, everybody loved her."

"Hmm, she sounds like a princess!" Ada beamed, "What did she look like, Fawn?"

Fawn blinked.

"She looked a lot like you," he replied, "but with wavy hair, and the most gorgeous blue eyes I've ever seen."

* * *

Ada dreamed, the night her brother disappeared.

In her dreams, she met that girl once more. The other girl was sitting underneath a tree and in her hands was a white rabbit doll.

_"Ada!"_ The other girl gave her a wide smile, _"I'm glad you could make it."_

"Queen Alice," Ada gasped, finally recognizing the other girl for who she really is.

_"Just call me Alice,"_ the young Queen beamed, patting the ground beside her, _"Sit."_

Ada did so, and the Queen faced her._ "What would you like to know?"_

"I dunno, everything, I suppose. I want my brother back!" Ada blurted out, unable to hold on anymore. Remembering what Uncle Oscar had said to her earlier that night, she continued. "I want him back from the Abyss!"

The young Queen took hold of Ada's hand. _"I could do that for you,"_ Alice said, her blue eyes hard and serious. _"But I need your help as well, if you want your brother back."_

Ada hesitated. Her uncle, when telling her about how her brother is gone, had warned her about Chains and contracts. Is that the nature of Queen Alice's contract?

"Is this dangerous?" Ada bit her lip, tears welling up at the corner of her eyes. She was so close, but she could remember Gilbert's crying face, and if she disappeared, won't he be more heartbroken? Ada couldn't bear doing that to him. "Am I going to be dragged down to the Abyss?"

Queen Alice blinked. Then, she chortled, before bursting into full blown laughter. _"Heavens, no, not you,"_ the young Queen giggled, _"Not you, the Abyss won't do anything to you, I promise."_ Alice smiled at her, comforting Ada. _"What you need to do will involve the Abyss, but not in that way. You will get your brother back, that's for sure."_

Ada looked down, thinking. She is not going to be reckless, the eight years old told herself firmly, she had to help her brother because he's worth it.

"I'll do it," she agreed, determined.

_"Great!"_ Alice laughed, _"Then this belongs to you."_ The rabbit in her hands morphed into a pure white, gleaming sword.

_"This sword,"_ the young Queen explained, handing the sword to Ada, _"Will appear only when it is time."_ Alice's body is fading away again, very much like the first time Ada had met her. _"It has a very interesting property that you will find out soon."_

"Alice? Are you going away again?" Ada brushed her hands on the sword, feeling the cool metal, "How would I know what to do?"

_"Fawn knows,"_ Alice's voice was only a whisper now, _"And you will know it too."_

* * *

"That is the Vorpal Sword," Fawn exhaled sharply, listening to the eight year old's description of the weapon she received from the Queen, "That is the weapon Queen Alice used to protect Wonderland, once upon a time."

Ada tilted her head, thinking. She can't figure out how to make the sword appear; when she woke up, there was nothing in her hands. There was a tingly feeling in her palms, though, and that somehow managed to convince the Vesalius child.

It felt right.

"What happened to Wonderland, then?" Ada finally voiced out, "What happened to Queen Alice?"

Fawn 's eyes darkened, and he looked away, towards the ground.

"...Wonderland died," he mumbled, "And so did our Queen."

* * *

Ada was ten, two years since her last dream, when she met Alice again.

She appeared in a rose garden, and found the young Queen under a tree like the last time. In the other girl's hand were flowers, and she was making a chain. Ada stomped over, furious steps easily alerting the young Queen, who looked up with a smile.

"I don't get it," she resisted the urge to yell at the other girl, frustrated, "Why do I have to listen to this stories anyway? My brother isn't back! You promised, Alice!"

The young Queen paused in her flower-chain making, and offered the finished product to her. _"It's been a while, Ada."_

"It is," Ada agreed, grumbling. She sat beside Alice as the young Queen beckoned her to, and Ada pouted. "Yet, you have revealed nothing to me!"

_"Really?"_ Alice tilted her head, _"What stories did you hear from Fawn?"_

"About how you fell down Wonderland, " Ada counted her fingers, making a mental checklist, "How you became Queen. How you ruled the world for many, many years, before you became sick, and then..." Ada looked hesitant saying this part, fearing rudeness. "...Then, you died."

The Vessalius child fiddled with her fingers awkwardly. "Then Wonderland became dark and depressing again."

_"Hmm,"_ the young Queen shrugged. _"Guess Fawn couldn't know everything,"_she mumbled under her breath.

_"Wonderland was once my dream,"_ the young Queen explained, blinking, _"But somewhere along the way, it became real."_ She looked at Ada with a gleam that sent shivers down the child's spine. _"What if the dream were to end, Ada? What do you think will happen to Wonderland?"_

"When you wake up, wouldn't Wonderland disappear then? If it's a dream," Ada concluded, "But why would you say that? Wonderland is real, right? Because Fawn is alive. He's here. He talked to me just a few minutes ago before I went into bed!"

_"I wonder,"_ the Queen murmured, her body fading away, _"I wonder. What if even your world was just an elaborate, semi-real dream? What happens to a dream when you died sleeping?"_

Ada's dream ended.

* * *

"I don't get it, Fawn," the girl told her Chain later on, the next morning, "I don't get it. How can this all be just a dream?"

Instead of answering her, Fawn kept quiet, thoughtful. He gave a quiet snort to acknowledge he's listening, but said nothing else.

"Besides," Ada mumbled, poking at her breakfast in bed, "Won't a dream just end when you die?"

* * *

Ada was fourteen years old and in school, when she came across a book talking about the legend of the Abyss.

"It said the Abyss was the beginning of all things," Ada told Fawn, "Is it true?" She wanted to know what her companion might say, considering he is from the Abyss and all.

Fawn snorted.

"What a lie," the large Deer Chain huffed, "Wonderland was the real beginning. After Queen Alice died, Wonderland fell into dark times, and it mutated, becoming the Abyss as it is known today. And this world was born from it."

"Really?" Ada looked down, thoughtful, "But if this world was born from the Abyss, and humans were only made when this world started, where did the Queen come from?"

Fawn flicked his ears. "Who knows," he mumbled, "perhaps you can ask that the next time you see her, Ada-sama."

So Ada tucked that into her memory, with the nagging feeling this was the key to what the young Queen asked her to do all those years ago.

* * *

_"The Abyss, you mean?"_

Ada nodded, shuffling her skirt neatly. She was no longer the eight year old child, now fifteen going sixteen and her own coming of age ceremony is around the corner.

_"Hmm,"_ the Queen adjusted the wool in her hands, knitting something, _"Fawn was right, if that's what you want to know. This world came to existence after the Abyss, thus the beginning."_

"But where would you come from, then?" Ada asked, "You're human too."

_"Am I?"_ Alice smiled, before laughing, _"Of course I am, silly answer. Funnily, that's the reason why this world has humans."_

"What do you mean?"

_"I came from a place called the Abovelands, by the Wonderlanders,"_ Alice hummed, _"But to me, it was called Earth. And Wonderland was just a dream."_

"But if Wonderland was just a dream..." Ada trailed off, "That would mean this world isn't real?"

_"You could be right, you could be wrong, you could be in-between!"_ Alice beamed, _"It's semi real, this dream you are living."_

"That means..." Ada's eyes widened at the implications of it all.

_"You're not real? Maybe,"_ Alice shrugged, _"But I'm inclined to think that you are very real, just sleeping, like me. Once."_

"Once?"

_"I'm mortal, I died,"_ the Queen didn't look very fazed by what she's saying, _"Because I died, Wonderland fall into depression, again. But I was dreaming when Wonderland opened itself to me, you know. I held on to the belief that Wonderland is semi real. And I died sleeping, dreaming."_Alice's hands were plucking at the grass around her, fingering them thoughtfully.

"So this world is just a dream...?" Ada repeated, dazed, "Or is it not?" The question is confusing in itself, and it's difficult to find the answer to it. It felt as though everything is hazy and suddenly, everything feels uncertain.

Ada didn't like that feeling.

_"Perhaps, perhaps,"_ the young Queen sang, her voice fading again, _"Maybe you have to just wake up?"_

* * *

Ada rested her head against Fawn's belly, sprawled out on the ground. She felt exhausted, just thinking about the dream. What Queen Alice had said nagged at the back of her head, like she's missing something important and she's almost there, just to miss it again.

"Fawn," she started quietly, so quietly that Fawn thought she hadn't spoken at all, but had caught the ends of her whisper. "Fawn, was Queen Alice confusing? Mysterious?"

The large deer shuffled, adjusting his position, before resting his head to the ground beside Ada's knee. "She was kind. Nice. Benevolent," Fawn murmured, "But yes, nobody really knew where she comes from, except from a place called the Abovelands. And when she died, she disappeared."

"Hmm," Ada twirled a strand of her hair, thoughtful. "How magical is Wonderland?"

"Everything there doesn't make sense, or it does make sense, in a way," came the confusing reply, "It's Wonderland. Magic hold no more value than sanity."

Ada replayed some stories that Fawn had told her when she was younger, not really finding all of them a bright example of sanity, even if they were amusing. The mad tea party. The journey through the Looking Glass country. The talking flowers. The card soldiers.

"That's not very understandable, Fawn," she finally chose to say, crossing her arms.

The large Deer Chain let out an amused snort, laughing. "When had Wonderland been ever understandable?" he snickered, before sobering. "There was one thing that all Wonderlanders know, though."

"Hmm, what is it?"

"Well," the Chain flicked his ears, "Queen Alice is our source of energy. She's like the sun to earth, and Wonderland was _her_ earth." There was an awed, adoring look on Fawn's face. "Wonderland craves for her."

There was a moment of silence.

"Alice," Ada concluded, "She's special."

"Very," Fawn agreed.

* * *

Ada was eighteen, and her greatest wish came true.

Her brother is back.

"Alice, Alice, he's back!" she pounced on the young Queen in her dreams that night, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Ada squealed, happiness glowing from her very being.

_"I didn't do anything, much,"_ Alice grumbled beneath her, wheezing for breath, _"But he is a key character too, that rabbit."_Ada missed the last part, instead, sitting up with a large smile on her face.

"There was a girl, too, you know, young Queen!" she chattered, cheeks flushing, eyes sparkling,"My brother is back, with Gilbert, and another girl named Alice too. Isn't that such a coincidence? Oh sorry!" Ada scrambled off Alice, but the young Queen didn't move.

In fact, the other girl continued staring at the sky, a blank look on her face. Then, her eyes softened, and she smiled, her hands reaching out as if to embraced the clouds. _"It's all ending,"_she sighed, _"It's been some time, Alice."_

"Alice?" Ada questioned, "Alice!" She had a feeling the Alice the young Queen had murmured out loud isn't herself.

_"Did you know, Ada?"_ Alice continued, eyes glassy, _"That, when I died, I could still feel Wonderland. I could feel it asking for my return."_ The young Queen placed a hand on her chest, where her heart is. Tears glistened at the corners of her eyes. _"Centuries, Ada, and the feeling of longing never fades. But I can never come back, I died."_

"Alice...?" Ada's voice is hesitant. The Vessalius scooted closer, worry written all over her face.

_"Ada,"_ the young Queen sat up, _"Have you ever wondered...what am I? Now that I'm supposed to be dead?"_

There was a sharp, ringing pain that struck Ada at those words, and the Vessalius girl clutched her head, crying out. Their surroundings, the dream they had always been in, suddenly turn into a dark, dark place. Alice's voice echoed, almost like she's everywhere yet nowhere in the same time.

The pain subsided, and Ada dared to open her eyes.

What greet her wasn't anything even remotely similar to the dreams she's used to with Alice. Everything is so, so dark, and gloomy, and so depressed. Yet, there was a small corner of white light, as though centered on something.

And there stood the young Queen, smiling at Ada. Her blue eyes gleam with an unnatural anger, and a type of sadness that Ada couldn't really understand.

"...Alice?" Ada whispered painfully, her head still throbbing badly.

_"Once, a man made a very, very tempting offer to me,"_ the girl looked down,_ "He promised to bring this world to the Abyss, Ada. What he didn't know, was that he's essentially offering to make us all wake up."_ The young Queen's expression turned sorrowful. _"I did give it to him, that power."_ Alice twirled her golden hair, chuckling softly. _"I didn't know that that was simply not the way, you see. To wake up, a greater amount of power was needed, so a hundred years ago, it failed."_

The only one event Ada could remember happening a hundred years ago was the Tragedy of Sabrie.

_"So I waited,"_ Alice fell on her knees, looking up, _"I gathered what's left of my strength, not that I have much left. I collected, and waited. Not everyone can talk to me. This world, this twisted, depressed version of Wonderland, made copies of me throughout time, and they were the only ones who could talk to me."_

A barrage of names entered Ada's head.

Mabel, Tillie, Elsie, Lacie, Alice, Alyss, Vincent.

Children of Misfortune.

A_da Vessalius._

"Me?" Ada whispered, terrified, "Why me?"

_"Why indeed,"_ the young Queen questioned, chuckling softly, _"Every 'child of misfortune' they called it, was tossed in the Abyss, right? How do you think that tradition started? Why do you think they can talk to me so freely? Feel me? Easy!"_Alice laughed bitterly. _"That's because they were copies of what I'm suppose to be. Wonderland's attempt at recreating the very thing most Wonderlanders asked for. It's flattering, yet so tragic."_

"But Vincent?" Ada's lips were dry.

_"Vincent was an intervention on my part,"_ Alice snapped and looked down, an angry look on her face, _"Can you imagine? All those years of those children, talking to me, playing, laughing, only to be destroyed by Wonderland, **Abyss**,"_ she spat out the single word hatefully, _"later on because they aren't me. I intervene at the last moment, after Lacie."_

"And the Baskervilles?" She felt like fainting. Everything is falling unto their places and make so much sense.

_"Think of it..." _the young Queen murmured with a tone full of resentment,_"...as Wonderland trying to protect itself from the copies of Alice that didn't work."_

All those traditions. Wonderland, who tried it's best to replicate the past. Wonderlanders, monsters of what once was. Children of Misfortune, a mockery of what had been and what they will never be. Baskervilles, who unknowingly became the way Wonderland dispose of their fake Alices, who couldn't fulfill it's needs.

"What about Chains?" Ada felt herself getting mentally tired, "Why the contracts? All those those promises of time turning?"

_"Echoes of what we all wish for, even unconsciously,"_ The young Queen gripped the side of her arms hard, _"Every Chain was a Wonderlander, so they linked themselves to the nearest humans, in hopes of finding one. One similar to me, they said." _

"Fawn?" The abnormality of the Deer Chain not needing a contract finally dawned on Ada.

_"Because I connected myself to you,"_ Alice turned around, _"Because it's really me."_

Ada felt herself fading away instead.

The last thing she could see that struck out as abnormal was Alice's body, dissolving into a bunch of tiny, golden lights.

* * *

Ada find herself finding information on golden lights.

Her answer came from the one person she never expected, although she supposed she should have, considering who he is.

"Golden lights are what people regards the Core of the Abyss looks like," Vincent told her with a smile, when Ada had asked of his opinion, "The Baskervilles was rumored to protect it until they betrayed everyone a hundred years ago. But of course, no one can really confirm the existence of the Core of the Abyss. That's just all rumors."

'Liar,' Ada had thought, 'You saw, so you knew.' But she kept quiet.

If there was anything she had learned from that conversation, is that those golden lights had been Alice all along.

The sleeping memories of a girl long gone.

* * *

"Fawn," Ada said quietly, "I've been having these dreams, about the Tragedy of Sabrie all those years ago. I kept seeing those blood, horror, murder, brilliant scarlet -"

"Ada-sama," the large Deer interrupted with a breathy neigh, "When did these dreams start?"

"I...I don't know," Ada confessed, "But this came to me now." She held out her palms, and revealed the gleaming white sword that faded to existence on them.

"The Vorpal Sword," Fawn exclaimed with a whisper, "It finally appeared, but what those this all means?"

"I think it means the dream is ending soon," Ada bit her lip, nervous, "I'm just not sure when."

* * *

The sword seems to become heavier and heavier in her hands everyday. Nobody else could see it except her, and somehow, that seems to make it worse.

Ada was hugging the sword when she dropped into another of her dreams with Alice. In that dream, this time, only golden lights floated in front of her. Alice, not in her usual human guise.

By now, Ada had over five months to get used to the idea that she might just be the next one to cause the next Tragedy of Sabrie, and the fact that Alice is really the Core of the Abyss.

"I don't get it," Ada's voice was quiet, solemn, "Why not Alice? Why me?" Her mind drifted to the other black haired girl which shared the same name with the young Queen in front of her.

The golden lights fluttered.

_"It took me years to get you used to the idea, Ada,"_ the lights seems to tinkle, _"Fawn helps, his existence stabilized your ability to talk to me. Of course, your name was a given, too. Many of us thinks that we have free will, but some things are predetermined from the start. Especially in this dream."_

"This sword," Ada easily made it appear in her hands, "Could do the thing Jack couldn't do so many years ago, right?"

_"Easily,"_ the young Queen agreed, _"Back then, when he asked for it, I didn't have years to prepare, to create that weapon. I gave the next best thing I had."_

"My brother," Ada's voice was tight. The memories of things that happened a century ago filled her head, the truth of what happened. Yet, she could not tell anyone, and she had to watch as everyone blundered in this ridiculous fairytale.

_"Your brother,"_ Alice hummed, _"All those years. The sword is as much me as much as it is a sword."_

"Why not Lacie, then?" Ada could see the memories of the young woman, who had not feared death even to her last moments, "Why not her? She talked to you until the end."

_"She was **the** eye opener,"_ The golden lights began to form back to the figure that Ada had attributed as Alice's original human form. Alice's ethereal form shuffled her feet in a guilty manner. _"Did you know?"_ she finally continued, _"that before her, all those other children of misfortune..."_

Mabel. Tillie. Elsie.

_"At first, I mocked them,"_ Alice murmured regretfully, _"I thought they were pathetic copies. Mabel was a bitter child."_

Red hair with a temper that matched fire.

Red eyes that matched rubies, shining with hurt and anger for being scorned at, for existing.

The young Queen chuckled softly. _"She died bitter, as well. Tillie, on the other hand, was a dreamy child with a bright mind."_

Brown hair and glassy red eyes.

A dreamer with hopes and dreams, faithfully believing she will carve a better life for herself.

All the while, Ada quietly pondered.

_"Elsie was quiet, hardly speaking. She died with less than a whisper,"_ Alice continued on.

Light brown hair and red eyes.

Quiet, because she didn't believe she deserved to exist.

_"But Lacie. Lacie was an eye opener."_ The young Queen turned to face Ada, her body flickering. _"Lacie was adventurous. And she fell in love."_ Her hand when up to her chest, and Alice look down sorrowfully. _"It felt like a blow to me when Lacie died and I could feel every single bit of her feelings, her memories. That's when I realized, they weren't just copies. They were real people, born to be copies, didn't know that fact, and died because of it."_

Alice inhaled sharply, her face showing a sort of pain, ancient but very, very mortal. _"It's heart wrenching, Ada,"_ Alice admitted quietly, _"It wasn't a game. So I thought I could help. My name plays a sort of power in this world, doesn't it? I named Lacie's twins after me, as subtle as I could."_

Alice. Alyss.

_"But it wasn't enough,"_ The young Queen said wistfully, _"So I got angry, and intervened. Vincent became different, to say the least. You too."_

Vincent. Ada.

Incomplete. Interruption. Intervention.

"What will the real world be really like?" Ada brushed her hands over the sword, feeling the power in it. Switching the topic, because there's no point trying to deny anything anymore. Everything made sense. Why Vincent was only born with one red eye. Why she could communicate even when she wasn't born with red eyes.

Predetermined.

"If the real world is not much better, I would rather stay in this nightmare."

_"I don't know what had changed, but if there's one thing I can tell you,"_ the golden lights, Alice's body, is fading, again, _"Is that it's never good to stay in a dream so long. Besides, London was a beautiful place."_

Ada woke up.

* * *

Besides the dreams of the Tragedy of Sabrie, Ada could see the memories of the time Queen Alice had spent in the Abyss. Every single moment, some rushing by with a blur, some standing out like a sudden flash.

But the ones that stood out most started with Lacie.

* * *

_Alice could see the girl again, her long black hair and beautiful, symbolic red eyes. Lacie, the girl's name. "Are you lonely?" she asked, and Alice merely hummed. What should she say? Yes? No? What could Lacie do for her anyway? _

_But that girl came back, again and again, without spite in her voice, or regret of her own fate. _

_"Do you like it?" the child asked, one day, and Alice can't help but stare, even if Lacie didn't know, at the rabbit doll that was handed to her. There was something incredibly ironic about the doll, but it certainly is the first time a child of Misfortune had given her something. _

_Alice caressed the doll. _

_"I'll bring another new friend for you next time," Lacie promised, "So that you won't have to be alone... even when I''m no longer here." _

_While that promise was never fulfilled, Alice felt something in her cry._

* * *

_Alice eyes the rabbit in her hands. Memories of the first rabbit, the one that had pulled her into this wonderful dream, came to her mind. _

_And the Core brushed the little doll with life._

* * *

_It came to **that** day._

_The young Queen could barely hold on to her emotions when Lacie said she won't be coming back. 'Why?' Alice thoughts furiously, 'Why?' Why indeed, when Lacie had everything and Alice had liked her and Wonderland is coming to destroy her -!  
_

_For the first time, Alice was furious at Wonderland, at the 'Darkness' it had became._

* * *

_The young Queen held the tiny bundles close to her. Lacie's daughters, she knew. She had snatched them from the Darkness itself. _

_If she can't save Lacie, she could save the children. _

_Alice named the twins after her, in hopes the 'Darkness' would spare them because of that._

* * *

_She raised them, even if they didn't know. The rabbit became their first play toy, as ironic as it may be. _

_Alice hoped the twins would stay with her forever, not to be included in that vicious cycle of copies, rebirth, death. _

_But the Darkness took one of her twins, and spat them out to the cruel, **cruel** world outside._

* * *

_In her hands, she held a shard of Lacie's memories. _

_It was the most she could salvage when she snatched the twins from the arms of the 'Darkness'. And by dwelling in the twins' bodies, the young Queen knows what she could do. _

_Who the memories must be passed on to. _

_"Please," her voice channeled through Alyss' body, "bring this memory to that man." _

_As usual, the rabbit started the chase._

* * *

_"I never regretted being born a Child of Misfortune," Alice remembered what Lacie had said to her, "I love this world."  
_

_Alice embraced Lacie when she was pulled to the 'Darkness' of the Abyss. _

_Unseen, the young Queen was crying furious tears._

* * *

_The cycle was to be repeated, Alice knew. The next Child of Misfortune was to be born soon, but all Alice could think about now is how Lacie had gone, leaving the world she had deserved to stay in. _

_Enraged, Alice interrupted in the making of the copy,._

_Vincent was born with only one red eye._

* * *

_Alice glared at the chains surrounding the world above. _

_These chains, the ones that trapped her in this dream, became the target of her anger. The young Queen hadn't felt anger at this level for a very long time now. _

_And that man had offered. _

_Jack Vessalius. _

_"It's impossible," the young Queen had told him, feeling the frailness of the twins she had raised, "If I were to use my power, this frail body wouldn't be able to withstand it." She look at Jack straight in the eyes. Her brilliant blue eyes shone in place of the child Alice's purple ones. ""This body, that Lacie left behind." _

_The body, one of the twins that she dwell in, felt like cracking. "Right now, merely my presence here, is putting a lot of strain on this body." The young Queen closed her eyes, and even though she knew she shouldn't cry, she felt like it. "I don't intend to put any more strain on it."_

_And Alice let herself fall back to her own body of golden lights._

* * *

_At the end, she gave it to the man, the bunny doll Lacie had gave her. _

_Destroy the chains. _

_Wake up. _

_It didn't work. _

_The golden lights back down, a ball of screaming anger. _

_She would do this, Alice swore, until the day she woke up. _

_The Core of the Abyss, Alice, shaped the Vorpal Sword and brought life to Fawn, waiting for the time that was right._

* * *

Ada could hear the screams, the blood, the horror everywhere. Everything is spiraling downwards, _downwards_.

And golden lights floated about everywhere, but nobody could see them, or hear them, like she could.

This wasn't a dream.

_"Wake us up, please,"_ Alice, the lights, begged, _"____I can't take it anymore. Please, just wake us all up. This is nothing but a nightmare, vicious cycles of good intentions._"

All those destruction, everything falling apart around her.

Fawn was beside her, finally revealing his abilities as a Chain, the ability to disguise. He shielded her, hid her, from their enemies, from everything, and it made her able to walk into the battlefield without anyone seeing that she's there.

There was her brother, crying in a body that wasn't his. The rabbit, given the gift of life, both in the memories of someone else.

There was Alice, who shares a body with two other souls, one who is whispering in her ear now. She will never remember the time when the real Alice had raised her and her sister, cared for them.

There was Vincent, who never knew his existence was due to an interference. The anger of a girl long tired, trying her best to prevent the same fate upon him, only half successful.

And there was Gilbert, who look like he had given up all hope in this mess.

"I don't want to see this anymore," Ada sniffed, feeling tears coming. Everything hurts, like everything is dieing and everyone is crying, in pain and -!

_"This had been predetermined from the start,"_ Alice whispered, _"From the very beginning, this world was spiraling to destruction. What happened a hundred years ago was just the beginning. This is the end."_

Fawn flicked his ears. Ada know he can't hear the whispers of his long dead queen, but she now knows that he had always been aware that the Queen would have chosen someone.

And that someone was her.

"We will wake up to a better world, right?" Ada made the sword appear, "You promised, right?"

_"Yes,"_ Alice hummed, _"Like I did, so many years ago. Even I want to sleep, you know. I've been dreaming for far too long, now."_

Alice, as the Core of the Abyss, did returned her brother.

Ada plunged the sword to the ground.

The sound of chains snapping, loud, haunting, echoed through the air. The Vorpal Sword, created over the span of a hundred years, destroyed the chains that trapped the real Alice to this world.

Darkness covered the sky.

* * *

"Good morning."

Ada blinked the sunlight out of her eyes."What time is it, Fawn?" she yawned.

Her Chain took a glance at the alarm clock, and snorted. "You're going to be late, or your father is about to sent someone up soon if you're not down in 20 minutes."

"Not too bad, I suppose," Ada laughed, sitting up, "Go get breakfast, Fawn. I'll be down soon." Seeing the doubtful look on her Chain's face, she quickly added with a chuckle. "Don't worry, I won't fall back to sleep."

As soon as Fawn trotted out of the room, albeit a bit unsure, Ada turned towards the golden-bathed figure at the corner of her room.

"Alice," she greeted, "Good morning."

_"Yes,"_ Alice laughed, her voice tinkling and fading away, _"Good morning."_

Her ethereal form faded away like dust, as if she wasn't there in the first place, but Ada knew better.

Wonderland was a nice, but dangerous dream.

"Ada!"

"I'm coming!" she yelled back, giggling. There are two sets of memories in her head; one speaks of her life in the dream, as though as she had lived through it, and another speaks of her current life, her very normal, normal life.

The calender on her study table showed that it's the twenty-sixth of November today, 2012. It's eight o'clock and Monday, which means she has school to attend.

Ada shrugged.

There had been enough adventure in the dream.

That's enough, for now.

* * *

**Author note : **First of all, I hope you had enjoyed that. Like I said before, it is all just a theory, one of the many 'I think the story is going to end this way' thoughts I entertained on the plot of Pandora Hearts (The real one would be the most unexpected one, of course).

Here's a summary of the theory I had:

Alice and Wonderland really did happen. After her adventure, Alice was crowned Queen of Wonderland, and she ruled the land for many years. Wonderland was a semi-real world, and Alice had traveled into it by dreams. Mortal, Alice died in her sleep, but her dream didn't end. She was a source of energy for Wonderland (after all, she dreamed them in a way) and when she died, Wonderland fell into depression, and mutated into what we came to know as the Abyss. The Wonderlanders became Chains, and those who were close to Alice became exceptionally powerful or unique (Rabbit, Mad Hatter, Dormouse, March Hare etc.)

The Abyss (formerly Wonderland) tried it's best to recreate their source of energy, thus the creation of humans and why they think the Abyss is the beginning of all things. Humans that came close to Alice were the Children of Misfortune, thus, their ability to communicate with the Core of the Abyss (which is the real Alice). Since Glens are only picked once every few years, there had only been a few Children of Misfortune, but enough to cause the rumors. Mabel, Elsie, Tillie, Lacie, and finally Vincent. The tradition of throwing the Children of Misfortune to the Abyss came to be because people were afraid their ability to communicate with the Core is dangerous, having the ability to change this world (which are partially true, since the real Alice as Core could influence this world), and since the Abyss thinks that this Children were failures, it destroyed them totally.

At first, the Core!Alice couldn't help but mock the copies of her, but Lacie's sacrifice, coupled with her ability to love and there was actually someone who would do anything for her opened the Core!Alice's eyes. She became angry and regretful, in an attempt to stop what she deemed nonsense, bestowed her name upon the twins born close to her, to keep them safe in behalf of Lacie. It didn't work, so she intervene on Wonderland's creation of Vincent (causing him to only have one red eye.)

Then, Jack offered to throw the world into the Abyss. Thinking it would wake her up from this dream, Alice agreed, only for it to didn't happen that way. When it failed, Core!Alice took the next hundred years to prepare the power she had promised Jack, only this time, in the form of her famous weapon, the Vorpal Sword. Assuming that since the tradition of choosing Glen didn't happen in the century that passed, when Leo was born, the Core!Alice intervene once more heavily, bringing Ada Vessalius into the world, and guiding her to Fawn. No contract was needed because Core!Alice stabilized Fawn's existence in the world.

Core!Alice had Fawn instinctively tell Ada the whole story, so when the time is right, Ada would use the sword to wake all of them up, just like how the Core!Alice had woke up so long ago, from her first adventure in Wonderland. At the end, Core!Alice couldn't hold on to her human figure anymore because she poured everything she had into the sword, thus appearing only as golden lights. The real world, in which Ada exists, is our world right now, 2012, considering that a century passed in the dream (half hypothetically, half literally, plus all those years) connecting the original story of Alice (assuming it took place in 1865) to the modern world.

And here's a list of the reference I took from the two books and other media for this story :

1. Fawn is based on the Deer that Alice traveled with in Through the Looking Glass. It was in the chapter when Alice ventured into the Forgetful Forest.

2. Dreams played a large part because that's how Alice had first ventured into Wonderland, dreaming, and through the Looking glass as well. Lewis Caroll inserted a poem at the end of Through the Looking Glass that suggests life is but a dream.

3. The crowning of Alice as Queen was direct reference to the end of Through the Looking Glass, in which Alice was crowned White Queen after all her adventure through the chessboard. The overthrowing referred to her first adventure, in which Alice fough against the Queen of Hearts.

4. Golden hair and blue eyes, the image for the original Alice, was influenced by the Disney!Alice and 2010movie!Alice.

5. The Vorpal Sword is also a reference from the 2010movie!Alice's role, and the original Jabberwocky poem.

6. The idea of a dark and depressing Wonderland, plus Wonderland needing Alice, are inspired by the 2010 movie and American McGee Alice.

7. The scene in which Core!Alice sits under a tree refers to the first part and end part of Alice in Wonderland, the knitting refers to the sheep in Through the Looking glass, who knits as well.

8. The names for the first few Children of Misfortune (Mabel, Tillie, Elsie) were taken from the book. Mabel and Ada was mentioned by Alice in her adventure in Wonderland, and Tillie plus Elsie is two of the three girls in the story the Dormouse told Alice, the third being Lacie.

9. The last date used, 26th November, was the date Alice in Wonderland was published.

Reasons why I pick Ada:

1. She had always seems so background character that, according to my logic after reading PH, she's bound to hold some great secret.

2. During the ten years she waited for her brother, I seriously doubted that she stopped at witchcraft and all. She did mention she got addicted, she never mentioned she stopped.

That's it, I think. I always thought it was just fitting for Ada, really. Another point I thought of but never managed to put into the story is that Oscar might have contracted the Caterpillar. *shrugs*

I have an idea for the modern day epilogue for this story, which I will be posting up later (how later, I don't know). It's to cover Ada's modern life before she fell asleep and who is her family in the modern day world, how are the people she met in her (semi-real) dream related to her (Like Gilbert, Vincent, Jack, Oz etc.) and why Chains still exist.


	2. Epilogue :: The waking world

**Warning ::** Really faint hint of Ozbert. Jack x Lacie is included too. Massive relationship change is due, so read with a fresh perspective.

* * *

Chewing her toast, Ada eyed her family members from the dining table.

There was her mother, Lacie Vessalius. She was laughing at something her father had said. Jack, her father, was sitting beside her, telling her how his day is going to go, what are his plans for the rest of the day. To Ada's right are her twin sisters, Alice and Alyss, who were arguing about who got the most mashed potatoes. Mother's mashed potatoes are always the best, as father had said.

In her head, Ada's mind told her that this is her normal family scene.

After that twisted Wonderland dream, though, she can't help but find this scene stranger and much more heartwarming than normal.

"Ada?"

Ada snapped out of her thoughts, and faced her family's worried looks.

"Are you alright?" Lacie asked, concern in her voice, "You spaced out." Her red eyes showed a vast amount of warmth reserved for her family, and while Ada knows that she is part of that family, she felt strangely disorientated.

Ada opened her mouth to comment what she thought of this situation, but after she thought about it, decided against it. Instead, she just shook her head, and smiled. "Nothing's wrong, mom."

The Vessalius child went back to her breakfast.

* * *

"Ada!"

Ada caught the incoming figure. She sucked in a breath in shock, taken back by who it is.

Oz looked up at her, black rabbit ears showing from between his hair, a large smile on his lips. Looking at him now, Ada can't believe how twisted her dream was, this morning.

This is Oz, the B-rabbit Chain. As he was meant to be. He wasn't her brother at all, but a close, childhood friend.

"Ada, you are here in Pandora today!" Oz chirped ears twitched, mirroring his excited expression.

Ada nodded, still a little stunned. "I am, mother asked me to pass some stuff to uncle and grandfather," she spluttered out, eyes wide. She took a second, but she continued with, "Are you really Oz?"

Oz blinked, obviously not expecting that question. "Of course I am. Are you sick, Ada?" he asked, concerned. He look over her shoulder and spotted someone, calling out, "Hey Gil! I don't think Ada's feeling very well!"

Ada turned around, letting out a tiny gasp. Gilbert was walking towards them, a concerned look on his face. He put a hand on her forehead. "Are you alright?" he asked, "You don't seem to be sick."

Looking at the two (genuinely concern for her well being) friends, Ada couldn't imagine them the way they are in her dream.

"Yes, I'm alright," she offered them a weak smile, "I'll get going now." She quickly get away from both of them, not willing for them to see her face. She had to get this stuff that her mom had asked her to pass to Uncle Oswald and Grandpa Revis anyway.

In her dreams, Oz was a Chain that didn't get a happy ending, and poor Gilbert was a victim of a series of bad events.

Here, in the real world, Oz was his Chain, and true enough, they were best friends. Ad regrets a little that Oz isn't her brother here, but being good childhood friends was close enough, if it meant they are happy.

Ada left the two of them with a content smile and some happy tears at the corner of her eyes.

* * *

"I can't believe it, Fawn, Pandora's so weird in this world," Ada told her Chain that night. It wasn't until a confused look from her Chain that Ada realized Fawn didn't know about her twisted Wonderland dream either.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she patted Fawn's nose, "I had a weird dream, last night. Don't mind me about it."

Fawn blew softly into her hand. "Tell me about it?" he asked softly.

"Hmm, Pandora's so different here," Ada fiddled with her fingers, "Here, they are a secret company ran by Grandpa Revis, who's mom's dad, with other four families as part of a council that give influential advices. They are in charge of keeping Chain-related events hush hush, and forming contracts here are actually something to look forward to, like a prize."

"You knew that since you were young," Fawn pointed out, "Why the sudden surprise? I remember how excited you were when you managed to form a contract with me."

Ada's mind was filled with memories of her youth, when she was one of the lucky ones to form a contract. As a contractor, it means she have a place in Pandora in the future, a stable income and a work very much like an agent or a spy, which, in her opinion, was awesome.

"It's different in the dream," Ada murmured, "In the dream, Contractors are frown upon unless they are legal."

"What a strange dream," Fawn remarked.

Ada left it at that.

* * *

That night, when she slept, Ada sees the first Alice.

They are in a dark, dark place, and specks of golden light floated about the place, a fading reminder of the dream long done.

"I thought I won't be seeing you anymore," Ada commented.

The blond girl in front of her giggled, and her blue eyes sparkled. "This is the last time, I believe," Alice shrugged, "I'm just here to say goodbye, and thank you, for everything."

"You're welcome," Ada nodded, "But the whole day had been so strange. I kept seeing them like in the dream. Everything is so...comfortable here. It feels like this is the dream instead."

Alice hummed in pleasure. "Well, that's what happened to me too, when I woke up from Wonderland the first time," the blue eyed girl laughed, "I kept seeing white rabbits and mad hatters everywhere. It was strange, but you would soon get used to it. And what is life, but a dream?"

That was a strangely difficult question to answer, and Ada didn't try to reply. "Were you ever real?" she asked, instead, hesitance in her voice, "Did you ever exist in this world?"

"Sure," Alice replied casually. A smirk carved itself on her face. "I believe you will find me under the name Alice Liddell, the girl who fell down the real, original Wonderland."

"Ah," Ada looked away, "I'll be sure to try and find your...records, then."

Alice giggled at Ada's awkwardness. "But really," the blue eyed girl smiled, "Thank you, for waking us all up."

"It's nice to wake up," Ada remarked in return, "The dream might have been pleasant...much, but waking up was sweeter."

Alice nodded. "It is," she agreed, "It is."

Ada woke up with a smile, golden light fading to nothing at the corner of her eyes.

* * *

**Author Note ::** Epilogue, done! It's really optional to read this one, but it was the original idea I had for this story, beside the theory of everything is just a Wonderland-like dream.

Just to clarify some stuff : -

1) In the real world in which Ada woke up, it is very dream.

2) One of them is Pandora, which, like the dream, is a secret organization, very much like MIB (Men in Black). Chains are a form of power and sign that you are qualified to work in Pandora.

3) Ada's family, as written above, is very, very different. Jack is her father, Lacie is her mother, and the twins, Alice and Alyss is her sisters. Her Grandfather is Revis Baskerville. Her uncle is Oswald.

4) Ada's relationship with other characters changed much as well. Oz and Gilbert are her best childhood friends, and to her, they are very much like her older brothers.

5) Fawn remains as Ada's Chain.

To see it in Ada's point of view, imagine if Pandora Hearts is actually just a very elaborate, Wonderland-like dream which Ada has, similar to 'Alice in Wonderland'. It's strange and has a lot of people she knew was included because it is _her_ dream. However, how real Wonderland's magic, like how it played with Alice Liddell centuries ago, remains an unanswered question.

Thus, when Ada woke up, she feels as though as this world is weird and she's disorientated for a while.

As a note, I might work on future side stories related to this universe. I'm not sure, though. What do you people think?

Oh, and review, please. XD


End file.
